Agricultural marketing development

The project will be implemented by the Agricultural Marketing Organization (AMO), a semi-autonomous parastatal under the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA). To strengthen AMO"s ability to increase private sector participation in the marketing system, the project will fund long- and short-term TA, U.S. Ph.D. and M.S. training for 1 and 8 AMO staff respectively, and short-term in-country training. Project TA and training will also increase AMO"s ability to conduct policy research/analysis and to frame policy recommendations. Five policy planning workshops (similar to the A.I.D. funded 1988 Aqaba workshop) will be held to identify issues requiring further analysis. Activities to upgrade the marketing system will be as follows. (1) AMO will conduct demand analyses of markets in other Gulf nations and the EEC to identify fruits and vegetables Jordan could profitably produce and export. This information, together with information on prices, quality, and hygienic standards in each market, will be passed on to producers and exporters. (2) AMO will also establish a domestic market information system, disseminating information widely via radio and other media. (3) AMO will develop a system of grades and standards for fruits and vegetables. (4) AMO will organize voluntary associations of producers, processors, exporters, etc. in order to expand private sector participation in the agricultural sector. (5) AMO will undertake - at times in concert with the MOA - a wide range of extension activities to improve grading, pre-cooling, packaging, transportation, storage, wholesaling, and exporting of fruits and vegetables. This extension work will include home economics activities aimed at introducing consumers to new varieties of fruits and vegetables. (6) AMO will conduct pilot experiments in privatizing government-owned processing, grading, and packing facilities, and will seek alternatives to the current marketing system by establishing farmers" markets and by organizing producers to sell directly to institutions.